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South Korea to pay US$24,000 to Vietnamese woman who survived military massacre
- Nguyen Thi Thanh was eight when Korean soldiers entered two Vietnamese villages in February 1968 and killed dozens, including two of her siblings
- A judge in Seoul acknowledged Nguyen’s relatives were ‘killed on the spot and the plaintiff seriously wounded. This is obviously illegal’
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A South Korean court’s landmark ruling that the government should pay reparations to a Vietnamese war survivor has been hailed as a milestone in forcing the country to face the consequences of alleged atrocities committed by its troops.
South Korea sent 300,000 soldiers to fight alongside the United States and South Vietnam against North Vietnam and communist guerillas in the protracted conflict, which took place between 1954 and 1975.
Nguyen Thi Thanh, now 62, was granted 30 million won (US$23,800) in reparations after a Seoul court on Tuesday held South Korea responsible for a mass 1968 killing by its marines in two Vietnamese villages near the central port city of Da Nang.
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Some reports have said 68 died in the massacre, while others put the figure at 74. Nguyen was injured.
The case is the first of its kind filed in South Korea and comes after decades of efforts by Korean and Vietnamese activists to shed light on a dark side of the country’s history.
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